Insulator



' Feb. 8 1927.

M. F. H. GOUVERNEUR INSULATOR Filed July 29. 1919 Patented Feb. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES PA TENT OFFICE.

mmoza r. m eonvnnmiua, or noorrnsrnn, New Yonx, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE Assrenmnn'rs, 'ro LOCKE INSULA'IOR CORPORATION, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A

CORPORATION OF MARYLAND.

' Application filed July'29,

My invention relates to insulators for use withtransmission lines forhigh voltage currents and 'more particularly to suspension I insulators,and its primary object is to provide a simple, strong, reliable andeiiicient means for connecting the hardware to the porcelain bodyportion of a suspension m sulator unit.

To this end'the main feature'of my invention, broadly stated, consistsinemploying a connected series of units as the connecting means'betweenthe porcelaln body portion and the cap and eyebolt, or the hard-v wareas they are called, of an insulator, and in so modifying the porcelainand hardware as to adapt the same to receive the said units and tomaintain the latter in such position as will enable the unitstowithstand the greatest strain without deformation.

Another, object of my invention is to provide the porcelain body portionof a suspension insulator with an undercut circumferential oove and toprovide a like groove 7 in the ad acent metallic connecting member.

and to interpose a spring ring between the shoulders formed by the saidgrooves, said ring being introduced into 7 position by moving said ringrelatively to one of said shoulders.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for connecting thehardware to the porcelain of a suspension insulator, said devicepermitting the ready assembly of the parts of the suspension unit andautomatically locking said parts and reventing their disengagement whenassem led.

Still another object of my invention is to provide mechanical means forinterlockingly connectin the parts of suspension insulator units, saimeansbeing adapted to maintain the parts in engagement under allconditions and to eliminate the stresses and strains on the porcelainwhich have been incident to the use of cement as the connectin mediumbetween the porcelain and the bar ware.

Thereare other objects of the invention as will more fully appear fromthe detailed description of the single embodiment of the inventionwhich'has been chosen to illustrate the sameand in which:

Figure 1' is a transverse vertical section A INsULA'roIi.

1919. Serial No. 313,974.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a portion of an eye-bolt for insulators,showing the spring ring connecting means applied there to andiILIIOImaLPOSItIOII;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view showing the manner of-introducing-theeyebolt and connecting means within the insulator body;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the spring ring adapted for use with theeyebolt; and

Figures 5' and 6 are fragmentary views showlng one method of connectinthe-metallic cap and associated spring ring to the] neck of theporcelain body portionof the L insulator unit.

Throughout the specification and drawings, like parts are designated bylike reference characters.

Referring now to the drawings, the insulator 1 preferably pom rises aporcelain body port-ion 2 having a s irt portion 3 and a neck or stem-4.Adjacent the juncture of the neck and skirt portions the former 1sprovided. with an undercut circumferential groove 5, which may be andpreferably is provided with-a curved or rounded 11 per end 6. Within theneck 4 and opening rom the underside of the insulator is a boltreceiving socket or bore 7, which may be and preferably is providedadjacentthe closed end with an undercut outwardly flaringcircumferential recess 8. v v

The cap '9 is preferably provided with an outwardly flaring ring or band10 adjacent thelower edge thereof said ring being provided on its innerface or surface with a-groove or recess '11. The'eyebolt 12 is providedwith a stem 13 and adjacent one end thereof is provided with anoutwardly flaring head or cap 14 which is preferably of a diametersubstantially equal to that of the bore or recess 7, WhlCh is providedin the underside of the por ain body portion 2.' Intermediate the cap.14 and the eye 15 thebolt is provided with a ring or collar 16 whichwill be hereinafter more fully described.

To con'nect the parts of the, insulator unit I employ spring rings 17and 17. These rings are made from tempered steel, the wire, rod or barbeing preferably of rectangular section, as shown. The wire is wound toform a series of substantially elliptically shaped coils 18, that is,each coil has a long and a short axis, the sides of each coil beingpreferably substantially parallel, as shown at 19. In winding the springthe coils are arranged at an angle to each other, so that when the endsof the spring are welded together, or otherwise suitably connected, thespring ring so formed comprises a plurality of separate coils, the upperends of which are in close engagement while the lower ends are Spacedapart, as clearly shown in Figure 4. The spring rings 17 and 17 arearranged so that in normal position the upper portions thereof just fitwith but slight expansion, the adj acent portions of the eyebolt and theinsulator stem respectively.

To assemble the eyebolt with the insulator the ring 17 is slipped overthe head of the eyebolt, the coils opening at the top suffi- ,ciently topermit the passage of the said head. The sprin ring 17 now occupies aposition, such asillustrated in Figure 2, the upper ends of the coilstightly fitting the eye-bolt below the head and the spring ring flaringoutwardly from the saidhead. The bolt and associatedsprmg ring are thenentered within theopening 7 of the body pore tion of the insulator, theengagement of the side of the opening forcin the spring to assume aposition parallel to the axis of the eyebolt, as clearly shown in Fig.3.the spring being maintained in position on the bolt by means of thecollar 16, hereinbefore referred to. In order to assume apositionparallel to the axis of the eye-bolt, the coils at the lower end of thespring ring must approach and the coils at the upper end separate. Itwill he therefore obvious that as soon as the eyebolt has entered theenlarged recess 8 sufficiently to permit the lower' edge of the springrlng 17 to pass the shoulders at the .lower end of the undercutenlargement, the

spring will be free to expand and to assume its normal position, shownclearly in Figures 1 and 2, thereby automatically locking the eye-boltto the porcelain.

The method of connecting the cap to the insulator is very similar tothat 311st described. In thaiorm of construction shown in Figure 1 thering 17 is slipped over the stem and forced downwardly until the upperend of the rin seats in the groove 6. The capis then forced over thespring ring, the ring being received within the groove 5 until thelower. edge of the cap passes the lower edge of the ring and-thus allowsthe spring to assume its normal position with its lower end inengagement with the groove or recess 11 in the cap 9, thus automaticallylocking the cap to the insulator body. With the form of cap shown inFigures 5 and. 6, the

stem 4 of the insulator is provided with an undercut groove o the innerwall of said brought on the porcelain.

groove instead of being substantially verlator. The cap 9 is providedwith a spring ring rece1v1ng groove 21 and the spring ring 17 isinserted w1th1n this groove 21 an is forced down over the stem"? untilthe upper end of the ring 17 is in alin-ement with the groove 6, whenthe contraction of the spring ring forces the upper portion of the ringinto locked position within this groove. To prevent oxidation of thespring rings 17 and 17 I preferably fill the cavity 7 and the spacebetween the cap and neck of the insulator with some elastic compound,such as sarco, one of the coal tar derivatives possessing greatelasticity which is indicated on the drawing by the reference character20.

It is believed itwill lead to a better understanding of the greatimportance of the invention it a brief reference is made to the defectsof the usual type of suspension insu-- lators before pointing out theadvantages of this novel form of construction. I

, It is common practice to use cement as a medium for connecting the capand eyebolt to the porcelain of an insulator, but cement has not provedsatisfactory for several reasons, among which may be named thefollowing: First, cement constantly increases 1n volume during the lifeof the insulator and this increase causes terrific pressure to be Thispressure is often so great as to cause the breaking of the insulator.Second: Owing to the fact that cement is inelastic it has been foundimpossible to compensate, in an insulator, for the expansion andcontraction of the metallic element.

The above-named, are believed to be, the primary causes of the failureof cement connected suspension insulators, since the stresses andstrains, produced by the cement bond, as above out-lined, would reducethe electrical resistance of the porcelain and would explain the failureor such insulators in cases where break-downs have occurred and wherethe failure could not be explained by the amount of the overload, bothelectrical and mechanical, known to have been impressed upon theinsulator.

By my improved form of connecting .on the porcelain, since the result ofthis expansion will be merely to slightly enlarge the upper diameter ofthe spring ring. Likewise, the expansion or contraction of the cap willmerel I result in the spreading or contracting o the lower diameter ofthe spring ring without causing tension or stress on the porcelain bodyport-on. It will therefore be obvious that by my improved form ofconstruction the porcelain is entirely relieved from the destructiveeffects of the expansion and contraction and'I have at the same timeprovided a strong and reliable means for connecting the porcelain to thehardware. It will be seen that the lines of stresses are practicallyparallel to the long axes of the spring coils and therefore the springcoils resist with their maximum strength all ten dencies of the hardwareto move relatively to the porcelain. In addition to the advantages aboveset forth attention is directed to the fact that by the use of a springring I obtain adequate bearing on the porcelain since the ring beingflexible is enabled to accommodate, itself to all inequalities of theporcelain and therefore evenly distributing the load over the entirefield.

Having now described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A locking device for connecting insulator elements,said device comprising a spring ring adapted to be interposed betweenthe insulator elements and having coils formed with non-circularopenings.

2. A locking device for connecting insula tor elements, said devicecomprising a spring ring of normally conical form composed of a seriesof connected coils having their-faces lying in the same plane, saidcoils being adapted to be interposed between the said insulatorelements.

3. A locking device for connecting insulator elements, said devicecomprising a series of normally divergent connected coils which areadapted to be interposed between the insulator elements.

4. A locking device for connecting insulator elements, said devicecomprising a series of coils formed with elongated openings extending inthe direction of length thereof, the ends of said coils being adapted tobe interposed between said insulator elements and the sides of saidcoils being disposed substantially in the lines of strain communicatedto them by said insulator elements.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

MINOR F. H. GOUVERNEUR.

